Improve audio - For a noob

[J37]

Hey guys,

Hope someone can help me with some advice.

I’m not that heavy into the tech scene anymore, I really use my machine for gaming in the evenings after work. So, unfortunately have forgotten a few odds and ends.

I currently have the Sennheiser GSP 600 (headset - Stereo), plugged into the Asus Maximus X Hero motherboard. From what I understand the motherboard has a decent onboard sound card, and the headset is also decent.

Sometime last year, after having my setup for around a year, I realised I didn’t have the HD Realtek audio drivers installed. I think it was from my friends moaning that I couldn’t hear enemies (I thought I was getting old). Anyway, installed the Realtek HD drivers, and bam, could hear so much more in my games that I pretty much never heard before.. Move on a few months, I format my machine, ensure I install those HD realtek drivers again, and use my machine as normal. Again, my friends tuning me I am deaf and can’t hear shit, I ensure the drivers are installed, went to Asus’ website and installed their drivers (for my mobo), I did notice after installing these drivers I had a whole bunch of enhancements (in the Sound control panel) available that I didn’t see before. After messing around with them, I still cannot hear as well as my mates can. I've also got my volume turned up a decent amount, but at the same time, don't want to shit myself when I fire my own gun, so its set to a reasonable level.

What can I do to solve this, and get better audio (specifically situational audio, for hearing footsteps etc.). As I am unsure of what else to do.

I’ve looked online, Sennheiser offer an external DAC (GSX1200), this will come to around R3000 IIRC, which is crazy. An alternative would be to get the GSP 550 which are USB powered, and are 7.1.

Just an important side note, I’m really not deaf or going deaf, but I did consider it at a stage.

 

[Bearman]

This might or might not help - my old asus essence stx soundcard is still better than all onboard solutions I have ever tried

 

[JollyJamma]

Hey guys,

Hope someone can help me with some advice.

I’m not that heavy into the tech scene anymore, I really use my machine for gaming in the evenings after work. So, unfortunately have forgotten a few odds and ends.

I currently have the Sennheiser GSP 600 (headset - Stereo), plugged into the Asus Maximus X Hero motherboard. From what I understand the motherboard has a decent onboard sound card, and the headset is also decent.

Sometime last year, after having my setup for around a year, I realised I didn’t have the HD Realtek audio drivers installed. I think it was from my friends moaning that I couldn’t hear enemies (I thought I was getting old). Anyway, installed the Realtek HD drivers, and bam, could hear so much more in my games that I pretty much never heard before.. Move on a few months, I format my machine, ensure I install those HD realtek drivers again, and use my machine as normal. Again, my friends tuning me I am deaf and can’t hear shit, I ensure the drivers are installed, went to Asus’ website and installed their drivers (for my mobo), I did notice after installing these drivers I had a whole bunch of enhancements (in the Sound control panel) available that I didn’t see before. After messing around with them, I still cannot hear as well as my mates can. I've also got my volume turned up a decent amount, but at the same time, don't want to shit myself when I fire my own gun, so its set to a reasonable level.

What can I do to solve this, and get better audio (specifically situational audio, for hearing footsteps etc.). As I am unsure of what else to do.

I’ve looked online, Sennheiser offer an external DAC (GSX1200), this will come to around R3000 IIRC, which is crazy. An alternative would be to get the GSP 550 which are USB powered, and are 7.1.

Just an important side note, I’m really not deaf or going deaf, but I did consider it at a stage.

Try Dolby Atmos and see if that makes a difference.

Otherwise, try testing with a friends sound card or DAC (the Nuprime UDSD is a great option)x

Also, try using paragraphs more often lol.

 

[J37]

Thanks for your input guys.

I did a bit of looking around online, and have seen a number of people recommend a sound card for this headset.

Would the below be a suitable purchase, to increase performance, but more importantly easier to hear footsteps / positions etc.?

Asus Xonar U7 MKII

 

[J37]

Or possibly the below? Little bit cheaper as well.

Asus Xonar AE

 

[dash09]

I'd say get the u7, its a pretty convenient device. I find it nice to have a physical volume button, and its easy to switch between the headset and speakers on the fly

 

[J37]

I'd say get the u7, its a pretty convenient device. I find it nice to have a physical volume button, and its easy to switch between the headset and speakers on the fly

Cool thank you. That's a good point.

Then just to clarify, these should improve the audio performance/quality of my (stereo) headset, to perform better than my on-board audio?

 

[dash09]

Cool thank you. That's a good point.

Then just to clarify, these should improve the audio performance/quality of my (stereo) headset, to perform better than my on-board audio?

There will be an improvement yes, you'll get higher volumes and more clarity. Though to be honest that headset doesn't need much power to drive so they should work just fine with the onboard audio. Maybe try testing first

 

[J37]

There will be an improvement yes, you'll get higher volumes and more clarity. Though to be honest that headset doesn't need much power to drive so they should work just fine with the onboard audio. Maybe try testing first

I see. There is a guy on Carb selling a U7 for R800 which isn't that bad. Waiting on him to see if he has sold it yet.

 

[virus786]

I would get this from @DEON89

FX Audio DAC X6 24Bit/196Khz 1W Per chanel dac/amp R750 | Amps & DACs & DAPs

Item: FX Audio DAC X6 Age: About two years Price: R750 Warranty: Nope Packaging: All original Condition: Perfect Location: KZN Reason: Upgraded Shipping: Yes on you Collection: Preferred Link: Amazon.com: FX-Audio DAC-X6 Mini HiFi 2.0 Digital Audio Decoder DAC Input USB/Coaxial/Optical Output...

carbonite.co.za

EDIT: NVM, I see the GSP headset is 28 ohms while the output impedance of this DAC/AMP is 10 ohms. Idealy you want 8 times ohm load vs output impedance to avoid things such as bloated bass.

 

[J37]

An update: For those who are interested.

I ended up getting the U7 Mkii, from a fellow Carboniter. My first ever purchase off the website

I have only had a chance to play CSGO since getting it, will hopefully test some other games soon. The audio has improved by quit a bit, I can hear much more than before. I wouldn't say the quality is better and if it is, its by a small margin. But I do hear a lot more throughout the game that I know I could never hear before. The control panel for the U7 is pretty intuitive, although I didn't really change much, set it to one of their presets which sound good for games/music etc. instead of sounding good for just one of them.